MyEntre.Net Iowa Small Business Blog - Uncategorized

Taping Interview Sold Story

Fay Risner — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:52:00 -3650

I’m interviewing my mother-in-law while she tells me about her early years. Why you might ask? Well, she’s going to turn 90 years old in a couple weeks. There is so much about her life that should be interesting to her grandchildren and great grandchilden since life today is so different from when she was born. We’re thankful that this woman is one sharp minded cookie and able to be a main stay in our lives as long as we can keep her with us. She has been dubbed Little Grandma because she’s an agile, healthy four feet eleven inches example to live by. Her life long passions have been two. First one is her faith. She knows all the stories in her well worn bible. Second is growing flowers and plants of all kinds. I’ve never seen anyone else that has a thumb as green as hers. We both started out with rose cuttings in June from the same plants. Her rose cuttings are alive and growing. Mine dried up a long time ago. I’m used to this problem and always know I can get another start from Mom when she has her plants big enough to share.

This lady is busy in the summer raising many flowers, which cover much of her large yard, and a large garden from which she freezes the bounty and gives much of the veggies away. She has given the coming of her 90th birthday much thought. Recently, she told my husband not to till up her garden this fall. We should wait and see how she feels about planting a garden next spring. I told her to look ahead. She’s only as old as she feels. She said age was a state of mind. She’d do what she was able to do as long as she could.

In the fall, she always takes in cuttings from her houseplants and keeps them alive all winter until time to set them out again. If she loses a plant she bemoans the fact as if she’s had a death in the family. I take my cues from this woman so I’m ready preparing for fall and winter, too. Working in a flower bed is much easier to do if the weather is warm.

I use a tape recorder to document Mom’s answers to my questions about the last century. Where did I get the idea to tape someone’s story? Several years ago, I taped a resident at the nursing home. That happened because one evening at their dinner hour, I told everyone in the dining room the Good Old Days magazine bought my fourth story from me.

The woman said, "I have stories."

Afraid of where this was leading, I replied, "The magazine likes pictures with the stories."

"I have pictures," she insisted.

"The pictures have to be in black and white," I countered.

"They are."

"The story has to be before 1960," I said.

"It is."

"Let me guess. You want me to write a story for you."

Grinning widely, she nodded in the affirmative.

My day off was coming up. So if nothing else, why not share my time to reminsce with this woman. Spending time with a lonely person is a good way to volunteer. This lady happened to be a resident that had very little company. So I set up a meeting in the conference room one morning. I wanted this lady to think I was sincerely interested in helping her so I took my tape player and plenty of tapes. By taping the conversation, I wouldn’t forget details about her story, and I’d be paying closer attention to her if I wasn’t always writing down notes.

We went through her picture album together. She introduced me to her relatives and shared her early life with me. When the hour was up, I pushed her to the dining room for lunch and left. If nothing else came from that meeting, I was sure she had a good time remembering the past with someone who really listened to her and was interested enough to ask questions.

When I listened to the tapes, my idea as to write a story to give the resident. That should make her happy. The more I listened I realized what stood out was Sunday afternoons spent at her grandparents with a whole house full of relatives. Potluck for lunch, baseball in the afternoon with cousins and later rides on Grandpa’s white horse. What I heard on my tapes was this lady has a speech pattern I wouldn’t have used if I had taken handwritten notes. I’m told I write the way I talk. That’s what readers that know me say anyway. Taking the story from the tape, I was able to write her story in her words the way she spoke them. At that point, I recognized a story that had selling possibilities if I submitted it to Good Old Days magazine. Families don’t get together like they used to when all the relatives lived close by.

I read the story to the resident. She approved. I submitted the story to the Good Old Days. The by line had her name as told by me which I’d seen others do on several submissions. I explained in my submission letter that this woman was in a nursing home. I didn’t know if her story was something the magazine wanted but the woman had fun telling this story, and I enjoyed listening to it. To my surprise and everyone else’s, our story was accepted and published in the July 2007 issue of Good Old Days specials - Family Get-Togethers.

The resident was so proud. She told everyone she was a published author. The activity director had an activity just for her. The two of them sat in front of an audience at the nursing home while the activity director read her story. The other residents clapped their approval which made that woman glow. That short hour I spent with her taping her story gave her a shining moment that lasted for days as she repeatiedly told people she was a published author. Selling another one of my stories was great, but the bonus was how I brightened her days. I will always be glad I did that for her.

Now I’m taping my mother-in-law’s story. She speaks with a southern accent and a speech pattern from the 20’s and 30’s. I couldn’t duplicate that without the aid of a tape player. What am I going to do with this story? She’s already warned me I am not to make a book out of it that would be published to the world. I assured her my intention was to give her life story in book form to the following generations as her legacy to them. Besides, I can always use the writing practice.

At our first taping, I ran out of questions. Mom’s daughter that had this idea came up with suggestions. Since then we’ve had another taping. I found a way to come up with more questions by then. Last Thursday, my husband and I went to the Old Thrasher Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. Talk about going back in the past. We took a trolley ride, watched school in session in a one room school house, saw rugs made on a loom and quilting in an 1850 log cabin. Everything is exhibited for men and women from steam engines and old tractors. For women, there is a reminder of how far we’ve come from the drudgery of the past when I looked at wood cook stoves, lye soap, wash boards, sad irons and much more. My mind was on my mother-in-law’s story. I took pictures of what might have been used in her lifetime as well as pictures of signs describing what we now think of as antiques. So Saturday afternoon, I had another round of questions for Mom. After about 90 minutes, my sister-in-law and I ran out of questions again. Now I’m working on a new list for the next time.

Mom asked me how I was going to put the story together. I told her we skipped around in her life so this would take time. A story that will be a good winter project. Could it be she is eager to see this book she was hesitate about in the beginning? I explained I’d have to make chapters and add each story to the chapter it fit into as I put her life in order by years. Also, I want to make this a history lesson for the children, this story is intended for, so I will add who was president, the depression era, and other history events in a time line with her life.

She’s not so suspicious of my motives now. In fact, she was eager to start talking and thought of events like the pie socials and winter sled rides through the timber to her grandparents that I wouldn’t know to ask about. It’s a good thing I didn’t have to take notes, because I listened too intently to write details down. Whether you are a writer or not, take it from me that time gets away from busy families. I have lost many elderly relatives that could have told me the stories Mom is telling. Events have come to my attention that made me regret I didn’t ask questions when my parents were alive. This time, I’m making sure the next generations will know this grandma. The next time I have the opportunity to tape someone it might be to sell another story. This is a method that works for me.

Am I always looking for a good story and characters that stand out? Sure I am. Mom didn’t say I couldn’t use a likeness of her character with a different name in a fiction book. But just to be on the safe side now that I have her talking, let’s keep this our little secret.

Odds and Ends

It’s always a thrill to know my blog posts get noticed. I appreciate that last week’s blog post Short Story Contest Winner was featured on iFOGO village’s home page. A new leader board went up on that site, and I found me at number five. Thank you iFOGO village and Gene Cartwright for the acknowledgments.

Those of you that have followed my blog posts about making hay should know that we just finished the last cutting for the year. I was so relieved to get done with the overhauled tractor working fine, the ancient baler shooting out every bale without incident and the brand new hay conveyor sent every bale to the loft with a smooth rattle. So just when I thought we lucked out this time, I woke up the next morning after unloading those bales to find my back painful. I gave in to going to the doctor for muscle relaxants and pain pills. I took one of each and was moving and talking in s - l - o - w motion for 24 hours. It’s a good thing I write these posts a few days ahead of time so I can go over them a few times. Last Tuesday was a copy and paste day and lots of nap time. By Wednesday, I decided I was better off feeling the pain which was less since I’d stayed still one day so I put away the pills. I’m looking on the bright side when I say I was probably cheaper to fix than my hay making equipment, and now I can quit worrying until the next hay season in 2011.

Food n Fellas Cooking Class

Luann Alemao — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:14:00 -3650

What fun was the class!! If you go to my web page or my facebook you can see the results of this event. The men made 4 courses and had a local winemaker come in to explain the process of makeing wine.

The men learned technqiues of how fish is done, cooking grains and presenting an entree and dessert too. Hope to have another class in the winter with a holiday theme.

If you have ideas I would love to hear them.!

Food n Fellas Cooking Class

Luann Alemao — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 15:14:00 -3650

The men learned technqiues of how fish is done, cooking grains and presenting an entree and dessert too. Hope to have another class in the winter with a holiday theme.

If you have ideas I would love to hear them.!

Short Story Contest Winner

Fay Risner — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:14:00 -3650

The winners up to six place are now out and online for the Arkansas Writers’ Conference contests at Little Rock, Arkansas.

I placed second in contest 25. Look What The Cat Dragged In. Title of my short story was The Unexpected Visitor. Guidelines for this entry - a short story and no word limit which is great for me. I know 2500 words is about the top limit for an entry, but I like it when I don’t have to watch the count close.

I’ve been entering this set of contests since 2003 and have many awards from first to sixth place. For the $10 entry fee participants can enter as many contests as they want. I have entered up to a dozen each year, but this year I found only four that I wanted to do. Several of the themes had vampire or ghost subjects. Vampires aren’t something that I can write about, but I did come up with a ghost story. I’ll share that one with you around Halloween.

The $15.00 prize money paid my entry fee and expenses of ink, paper, envelope and postage. Plus, I am listed online in the list of winners for anyone that wants to look up the website.

Every year the contest rules come out in January. The entries have to be in by the last of April which is plenty of time to work on a short story. After all these years, I’ve become familiar with the different contest themes. When I get an idea in the months before the contest starts, I write a story and wait to see if it will fit the guidelines. Sometimes, the story only takes a little reworking.

The first four contests entered, the writers have to present at the conference the first weekend of June. Contests 5 - 28 are open to all writers. Contests 29-36 are for residents of Arkansas only.

Now my entries to White River Writers Conference Contest, Searcy, Arkansas, have been sent in. Another Arkansas based conference with a July 26 deadline. More on that later in September if I place in the contests. Sometimes I submit the short stories I’ve used for the Arkansas Writers’ Conference. I’ve found with a different set of judges I place this time when I didn’t in the other contest.

Over the years, I complied quite a few essays and short stories. When I published my books back in 2008, three of those books were made up of these contest entries. Wild West Tales, Butterfly And Angel Wings and A Teapot, Ghosts, Bats & More.

The books didn’t cost much to publish. I use them as give aways at book signings. The winner has a choice of the three books. Also, I gave a copy of A Teapot, Ghosts, Bats & More to my family doctor to put in the magazine rack in the waiting room. It took the longest time for that book to get placed in the rack. I finally figured out all the staff read the book before they gave it up to the patients. In the back of each book is my contact information and list of other books I’ve written if anyone reading this book wants another from me. I’ve sold the doctor two of my Amish books and the staff has bought four of my Alzheimer’s caregiver books Open A Window.

Three of the short story entries became books. I make sure to list that I was a contest winner with the short story. Right now I have a western book, second in my Stringbean Hooper Westerns, to be published soon. I entered my western in a Western Three Chapter contest. Dusty Richards, well known western author, is the judge. He gave me second place for my first Stringbean Hooper book, The Dark Wind Howls Over Mary. Contest winners are announced in September at the conference. If I am awarded anything I can use that acknowledgment in my next book.

Tools you should be using... Speedfiler and SnagIt.

Chad Feldmann — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 02:04:00 -3650

There are a ton of tools out there to help small business owners stay organized, communicate better, and be more efficient. Here are two of my favorites I think everyone should check out.

Cozy Mystery Website Adding My Mystery Series

Fay Risner — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:11:00 -3650

If you like cozy, clean mysteries like the Amazing Gracie Mystery Series I write, I’ve found a site on an Amazon mystery discussion group. There are many books to choose from at http://www.cozy-mystery.com The site had an email contact for the host so I sent a message requesting she try a complimentary copy of Neighbor Watchers - ISBN 1438246072 so she can see for herself what my mystery series is like and think about adding my books to her site.

The host replied, "Thank you so much for writing and letting me know about your Amazing Gracie series. It looks like exactly the type of mystery series that this site emphasizes. I have added you to my list of authors to post, but I must warn you that it might take a little while before I get to you. My list is always expanding, but every once in a while I make it a project to get some more authors done.

Check out the site if you are interested in reading or submitting a cozy mystery book. The site has links to everything. Danna gives her definition of what a cozy mystery is. Cozies don’t usually involve a lot of gory details or explicit adult situations.

Authors are posted alphabetically.

TV shows and movies

Cozy mysteries with themes such as culinary themes, librarian themes and for cat and dog lovers

Cozy mystery new releases

In Danna’s cozy mystery blog, she talks about different movies and shows.

If you have a submission email Danna@Cozy-Mystery.com

Danna mentioned that she’d like people to link to her site. If you contact her mention that you found out about her site by reading my blog. That way she will know I helped spread the word.

I tried to list my Amazing Gracie Mystery Series on different websites for mysteries a couple years ago when I published the first book. I got a reply from one site that I must be kidding if I thought the book would be put on that website if it was sold by Amazon. I didn’t have any idea what that meant. As a writer, I figure I am always going to win over some and lose some so I keep looking ahead for other possiblities. I didn’t hear back from another mystery website I contacted. An online book store in California took three signed copies of my book on consignment but never got back to me. I was unknown, and my series is not the violent, sexy stories that ate popular so I’m assuming the books didn’t sell.

Two more mystery book list websites are http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/ ( which I found on an Amazon mystery discussion group) and http://www.thebloodstainedbookshelf. I emailed The bloodstained bookshelf and didn’t hear back so I assume my books wouldn’t fit in either of these sites.

Sorry I missed my blog post entry last week. We made a quick trip to Arkansas for my husband’s aunt’s funeral and visited with my aunt and uncle near Cabool, Missouri before we came home. The loss of one aunt is a reminder to me to spend time with another one about the same age.

Now I’m back, and a day early with this blog post, because I don’t want the phone line tied up tomorrow. My three month old dishwasher quit working a couple days ago. The repairman is suppose to call me when he is ready to come fix the dishwasher, and that is one call I don’t want to miss.

When was the last time you received an unsolicited refund?

Rob Williams — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:35:00 -3650

With technology so ubiquitous now in our everyday life, it is sometimes hard to be surprised by what it can do. My latest experience with Amazon's Video on Demand service pleasantly surprised me with what is possible in terms of better customer service.

Typically, determining customer satisfaction with a technology service occurs after the point of sale. For instance, I order a product or service online and receive an e-mail receipt which includes a feedback survey link which I can then choose to complete. This is in contrast to when I walk into a retail location and interact with the business owner, who can gauge my satisfaction and act accordingly during the entire sale process.

As I eluded to earlier, Amazon Video on Demand has taken the next step with what may be possible utilizing technology to ensure customer satisfaction from point of sale and during delivery. While watching The Crazies with my girlfriend, our video playback was repeatedly interrupted with time spent waiting for the video to buffer.* Our satisfaction with the Amazon Video on Demand service was less than spectacular. Imagine my surprise and indeed delight, when the next day I received an e-mail from Amazon apologizing for the poor playback quality of the movie I ordered along with a full refund! I had not contacted Amazon to complain; their back-end technology had flagged my experience as being potentially poor and they acted on that information to ensure they would continue to have my repeat business. The exact text of the e-mail was as follows:

Hello,

We noticed that you experienced poor video playback while watching the following rental(s) on Amazon Video On Demand:

The Crazies

We're sorry for the inconvenience and have issued you a refund for the following amount(s): $3.99

While Amazon Video On Demand transactions are typically not refundable, we are happy to make an exception in this case. This refund should be processed within the next 2 to 3 business days and will appear on your next billing statement for the same credit card used to purchase this item.

Please visit our troubleshooting page for tips on ways you can potentially improve your viewing experience: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html

We hope to see you again soon.

Amazon Video On Demand Team

Amazon not only refunded me the cost of the rental, but they included in the e-mail a link to explore ways to improve my connection quality and playback of their services. I suspect in years to come, other online service providers (if they are not already), will install similar technologies to track customer satisfaction automatically from initial purchase to completed delivery.

* I have been using Amazon's Video on Demand service for over a year now and been very happy with both the quality and user friendly interface of their service. My experience here is based only on an isolated incident and I in no way mean to convey that Amazon's Video on Demand product is of poor quality.

Author Fay Risner To Speak At Athena Club

Fay Risner — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:38:00 -3650

Nov. 8, 2010, the Belle Plaine, Iowa Athena Club has invited me to speak about my Civil War book - Ella Mayfield’s Pawpaw Militia - A Civil War Saga In Vernon County Missouri. ISBN 1438235461. Sold on Amazon, ebay and http://www.booksbyfaybookstore.weebly.com It seems only fitting that today’s members in a club that was founded in the 1800’s would be interested in history from that era.Awhile back, I signed up on a website for Iowa authors. Iowa Center for the Book - http://www.iowacenterforthebook.org This is the site the Athena Club looked on to find an author. They found my name and list of books.

I’m getting prepared for the Athena Club meeting. I kept my bulletin board from the book sale at a Civil War reenactment last year. A hand drawn map of Missouri points out Vernon County’s location. The map is covered with statistics like how many battles and scrimmages were fought in Missouri. Across the top of the map is the definition for bushwhacker and jayhawker, plus pictures of a bushwhacker and two Union soldiers stones which are my great grandfathers buried in the Montevallo Cemetery and a picture of a woman’s grave who was a slave before the war and lived to be almost 100. Montevallo’s only black citizen after the war, Isabel Taylor was my parents neighbor in the 1930’s. In plastic covers, I have a copy of my great grandfather’s discharge paper, a picture and a story about Isabel Taylor from the Nevada Daily News. I’ll set out a stack of business cards so the club members know how to contact me later and a box of my other books for them to go through while I talk.

Bushwhacker Ella Mayfield’s story was an easy one to write. History provided me with details and dates of battles and towns burned by Union soldiers. The 1887 Vernon County History book supplied information about the Mayfield family. The authors point of view about the Civil War others wouldn’t know that didn’t live in that area until I wrote this book and talked about the era. My book is considered fact based fiction. The conversations and some of the details I added were my imagination because I wasn’t there.

An added plus for me, my parents grew up near Montevallo. We went there to visit family and friends often when I was a child so I know the landscape well. For many years, I’ve revisited that area, traveling in the same places that my parents and Ella lived.

Women, who homesteaded with their husbands, were sturdy, hardworking individuals. They could shoot a squirrel rifle, ride a horse, wield an ax and hold on to the reins of work horses or mules struggling to pull a small plow across unbroken sod. All the while, they had just delivered a baby or were expecting another one. It’s no wonder, these same women were able to hold their own among men in Ozark bushwhacker bands. The Mayfield family were considered heroes in Vernon County during the war. They suffered as much as any other family. Ella lost two husbands, two brothers and two brother-in-laws to Union soldiers and in the end was burned out of the timbers that hid her and her band so well.

Homesteaders weren’t interested in slavery. They had large families to help farm the 160 acres they signed up for. To keep that land, they had to build a cabin and plant crops for five years then the farm belonged to them. When the war started, family members, women, children and elderly were left behind to protect their homes and land. They fought to stay on the land they had put so much sweat into making their home. Years later, bushwhackers that come to mind are the James brothers and Younger brothers. Living in a land completely destroyed by fire and battles, these men chose to be outlaws rather than make an honest living. That was not how the bushwhackers of Vernon County began. Early on, the men came home from battles, disillusioned by battle losses, death of friends and relatives. The battles they were sent to fight were too far from home to protect their families. These men chose to become bushwhackers and fight at home to try to keep the Kansas Jayhawkers and the Union soldiers from burning their homes and killing their families. Angered by raids made on what belonged to them, the bushwhackers raided in Kansas, burning and killing. Ft. Scott Union soldiers tracked them back into Vernon County. Hit and run fighting was easy for the bushwhackers with vast timbers to disappear into, caves to hold up in and creeks to ford to hide their tracks. By the end of the war, the few women, children and old men left in their homes ran out of food to give the bushwhackers. The Union soldiers saw to that by destroying extra food, gardens and taking away milk cows to keep starving settlers from giving aide to the militias. The sympathizers had to move away from the areas to survive. That didn’t stop the bushwhackers. They were afraid to shoot what little game was left for fear the soldier patrols would hear a shot. Instead, they lived on berries, nuts, persimmons and pawpaws. Finally, the Union General, Thomas Ewing, in Kansas City issued Order No. 11. Burn Cass, Jackson, Bates and most of Vernon county south of Kansas City to run off all the southern sympathizers and what was left of the bushwhackers. That did it. In the smoky haze of spreading fire, Vernon County citizens and the last of Confederate solders fled to Arkansas.

That’s when Ella and her second husband gave up the fight. A few months after they arrived in Arkansas, Ella’s husband was killed. I tried to find out what happened but so far don’t know the answer. Ella came back to Vernon County, married a man farming not far from where her family’s farm had been. She used her first name, Amanda, which as time passed helped others forget her involvement in the war. After so many hardships, Ella had a normal life. She farmed with her husband, moved to Oklahoma later in life and is buried there beside her husband.

Now thoughts about summers -Yesterday and Today

Last Thursday was my husband’s birthday. I brought his 89 year old mother out for the day. In he afternoon, one of his sisters brought her two grandchildren that think coming to our place is like visiting a zoo. Our son joined us after he got off work. It was a super day with low humidity and warm sunshine that made our ash trees shade feel good. This was a day reminiscent of days in the Ozarks when I was small. In those days, my family spent many hot afternoons under a large maple tree, sipping real lemonade and Kool Aid. Our fan, compliments of a feed store, was a small piece of cardboard with a tongue depressor like handle. Many weekends when relatives came to visit, the grownups sat in the shade while the kids played. Dad bought a 50 pound block of ice which he busted up in a gunny sack, and everyone including the kids took turns cranking on the ice cream maker. We didn’t seem to mind the heat in those days. Maybe because we didn’t have air conditioning, we were acclimated to Missouri’s humid heat.

Many a summer evening, my family sat outside until bedtime. We had a porch swing. When my younger brother and I were small, my parents sat in it with us while Dad told us stories about what it was like when he was a kid or the Civil War stories his father told him about his grandfather. When we outgrew the swing, we sat on an old quilt in the grass. Dad bought a telescope. He pointed out stars and constellations, told us the names and let us look at them. The moving star that traveled from North to South was Russia’s Sputnik.

The house stayed hot through the night. We slept on the floor in front of the front porch screen door with a small, old fan stirring the air some. I was agile enough in those days not to mind the hard floor. The only reason I’ve thought twice about those days was Mom’s story about the large black snake that crawled under the screen door and slithered across the floor. The creature was looking for a cool place, too. At night for a summer or two, we slept sideways on an old iron bed out in the yard. Summers tended to be hot and dry so my parents didn’t worry about the old mattress getting wet. If a shower came up and passed through, the sun came out. The mattress was baked dry by bedtime. We lived on a blacktop road, but no one came by after ten o’clock to see us sleeping outside. That was the whole neighborhood’s bedtime so traffic was nonexistent until morning. My parents woke up at daybreak to milk cows. When passerbys drove by during the day, they probably thought the bed was a trampoline for the kids.

Now it’s summer in Iowa. The heat index of 104 one Wednesday was enough to drive my husband and I out of our un-air conditioned house that evening until the sun set. Not much of a view from our yard these days with ten feet tall corn plants all around us. One night, we watched four hot air balloons float near our house, turn and go back the way they came, but that Wednesday night and since then it has been too hot or stormy for balloons.

Another evening, my husband made the mistake of digging out a dandelion near my clematis vine which housed a minature nest of baby red headed finches. The frightened birds flew out into the lawn and bushes. After the surprise wore off, they decided they weren’t ready to leave home just yet. From several directions, the young birds made a clicking sound, trying to talk their mother into coming for them. Finally, my sympathetic husband hunted each baby up and put them back in the nest so their mother could find them. That quieted them down.

Most summer afternoon and evenings, we’re content to watch panting sparrows and warbling jenny wrens. How do those tiny birds muster up such a loud song? As you can see if my husband and I have any kind of breeze, plenty of shade, a refillable glass of tea and song birds entertaining us, we’re easy to please. Maybe it’s because we know what winter will bring.

Does the College Structure Truly Benefit Entrepreneurs and Business Owners?

Nicholas Krob — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:11:00 -3650

The modern educational structure is not set up for practicality and execution. It is structured for factual regurgitation and loquacious nonsense. Many employers will agree that college does not prepare the workforce for their future jobs, and that it is simply a means for obtaining a base level of over-arching knowledge. Why then, does generation after generation start their adult life in debt simply for a piece of paper? Is that much really learned in college? And if so, is it even useful down the line?

Final USPS Update, Twitter, Merchant Circle & More

Fay Risner — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 20:46:00 -3650

I’ve received another $55 check from the Postal Service. That brings the total repayment to $110. I’m going to stop with that amount though I’m still owed another $25. I feel lucky to have gotten this much back. For future reference if I ever lose something else in the mail I’ve insured, I now know to keep pushing for a fair payment and have the Washington D.C address to write first.

At last count, I have 40 following me on Twitter and 66 followers. It seems as though I see an increase in followers after I’ve blogged on Book Marketing Network, iFOGO and Publetariat. This last week I picked up Blog Expert, Rachel Karl, as a follower. She said I had a nice blog. I wondered which one she looked at since I blog on eight sites now. Rachel had checked my Twitter site out well enough to let me know that the link to my website under my name wasn’t working. I appreciated the FYI, immediately fixed the problem and tweeted Rachel back to let her know the link works now. (By the way, my twitter link is http://twitter.com/booksbyfay if anyone wants to tweet me or click on to follow me. I'll be glad to follow you, too. - Thanks Rob)

My twitter bio has lead different types of businesses and people with varied interest to follow me. I stated I like writing books, gardening, flowers, fishing and boating. Therefore boat businesses and boaters, flower businesses, gardeners and nature lovers follow me. I thought about not returning the follow or changing my bio if I might be misleading some tweeters, but what I wanted was to promote my books and online bookstore. Most followers must read books so after email notification from followers, I send them a thank you message from Author Fay Risner and mention one of my books or where to buy my books online and my online bookstore. I’ve picked up some authors including Steve Weber, author of Plug Your Book, a book about internet book promoting which has been helpful to me, and he didn’t even know at the time I’d bought his book.

Google Partner Program has decided to make ebooks out of the books in the program if the authors are agreeable. I’ve had my books in the program for awhile but I haven’t finished filling out the forms they needed. August 6 is when they will begin promoting ebooks. Once a month for some time now, I’ve received an email notice about how many of my books were viewed and how many pages looked at. This notice is a way for me to see what genres readers are interested in.

I accidentally came across Merchant Circle on the internet. There is one for every city in every state. If a you come from a small town that hasn’t started using Merchant Circle yet be the first one to start if you consider your book selling a business. Sign up is free. I didn’t think of myself as a business when I began this venture, but last year I published two books at Lightning Source Inc. I had to fill out tax forms and send for a sales tax permit before Lightning Source would print my books. Since I was considered a business, that lead to me to starting my online bookstore.

The added features on Merchant Circle are from $249 to $39, but I signed up for the free site. Do I expect to sell more books in my area when my town has a population of 600, and everyone knows everyone else. The biggest businesses are the nursing home and the John Deere Implement dealer. Not really, but Google Crawler is working on the site. My blog is picked up by major search engines which extends my reach and will introduce my books to more customers that search the internet like I do. I felt it was worth the effort to sign up for the free package and give it a try.

I had to have a logo so I used a copy of my business card since I’m not good with graphics. An advertisement and a coupon can be made. My coupon states a free book for the sale of one book on the site and a review of my business or the book purchased. The advertisement states that my stories are clean; no curse words or sex scenes. Books written by a Midwestern author with wholesome values.

The results are in for July for my Kindle books sales. With the raise in price, sales went down to about half of what I sold in June, but the royalty went from 35% to 70% so the total royalty amount was about the same. Better news is I’m now selling my series of five mystery books which wasn’t getting noticed before. That gives me encouragement to write Amazing Gracie Mystery number six.

Amazon’s Author Central has sent out emails to authors with an author page to tell them they won’t be able to blog on site after August 15th. They will need to submit a link to another blog they write. I’ve tried linking to another blog before without success, but I’m working on it again.

And finally, I read a helpful article on Publetariat.com that I liked titled The Truth About Typos by Mark Barrett’s Ditchwalk. He said reread what you write at least once. Slow down and concentrate. Don’t publish when you’re tired. Just know that what you’ve written will never be perfect. Sooner or later a typo will survive. If you as a self published author worry about those typos like I do, this would be a good article to read. If nothing else the article made me feel a little better about those dreaded typos that did survive.